'LOCALLY GROWN' PROVIDES BOUNTY FOR FARMERS

Restaurants wanting to buy their salad greens from Urban Oaks Organic Farm in New Britain are likely to end up on a waiting list.

"For us, the battle is just trying to keep up with the demand," said Ken Zaborowski, a manager at Urban Oaks. "The last year and a half, everything started picking up."

Three years ago, the small nonprofit farm sold only a few pounds of greens each week. This year, it's selling 40 pounds a week and has started looking for more land for expansion.

Chefs and shoppers, schools and supermarkets are all clamoring for locally grown food.

Concerns about food contamination and the environmental effects of long-haul transportation, plus a craving for superior taste, are creating a booming demand. At the same time, record fuel prices are making local growers more competitive with huge agricultural businesses that ship goods all over the country.

The robust demand hasn't yet translated into more farmers, though. It's hard to increase the supply of locally grown food in a state where, traditionally, the best use for farmland has been development.

"We are bumping up against an initial feeling of limited supply," said Jennifer McTiernan, executive director of CitySeed, which operates farmers markets in New Haven. "We do need some more farmers in Connecticut, and that is incredibly good news."

The demand for locally produced food has grown so much that trying to find a "crop share" - a system in which people pay in advance for a portion of a farm's summer harvest - is nearly impossible. Holcomb Farm in Granby, which operates one of the largest crop-share programs, said it sold out the 350 shares available for this year before Thanksgiving.

Supermarkets, restaurants and other large buyers also are finding supplies tight. That's because more farms are starting to bypass wholesalers to sell directly to consumers, agricultural advocates said.

Towns are clamoring to set up farmers markets to the point that state officials predict Connecticut may soon have more markets than in-state farmers to support them. The number of markets has grown by 50 percent over the past four years, with 16 new ones expected to start this spring.

"It is unbelievable. It has come from every single direction," said Rick Macsuga of the state Department of Agriculture. "It is a nice situation to be in."

Claire Criscuolo has been buying local food for years for her vegetarian restaurant, Claire's Corner Copia in New Haven. But this year she's turning to her own backyard for heirloom tomatoes. She just can't pass on to her customers the high prices farmers can fetch.

"Let's put it this way. I won't be needing a lawn mower," Criscuolo said.

The local food movement focuses on several factors. One is global warming. Seeking local sources of food reduces the amount of energy used, and pollution created, bringing food to the marketplace. Another is guarding against contamination by knowing and understanding where the food you eat is produced. There is also an intangible feeling of community created by local markets selling local crops, advocates say.

Now, rising fuel prices have helped even out a traditional barrier to local food sales: price.

"The local guy may be able to compete better because of the fuel cost," said Joseph Ruffini of Northeast Produce Hartford, a wholesaler who deals at the Hartford Regional Market, where many restaurants, cafeterias and other large kitchens shop.

That's because high fuel costs are eating into the profits of mass-market food wholesalers, who in the past could offer lower prices.

Because Connecticut has a relatively short growing season, locally produced food makes up a small portion of the market. The larger hope of local food advocates is that the increased interest will translate to more farmers.

In Connecticut, the number of farms declined from 4,905 to 4,191 between 1997 and 2002, according to the most recent federal government data available. The amount of land in cultivation decreased by almost 50,000 acres over the same period.

"There is only one way to get local food - grow it here," said Bill Duesing, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut.

McTiernan said steps are being taken to eliminate the barriers that keep new farms from starting and existing farms from expanding. A leading issue is the cost of land, and state officials and advocates are working on ways to match farmers with available and affordable land.

Meanwhile, Whole Foods Market, a supermarket chain that tries to buy from nearby farms as much as possible, is finding plenty of local growers in season, said David Doctorow, vice president of purchasing for the company's north Atlantic region. He expects local farms will respond to heightened demand by literally growing the supply.

"It really can go as far as consumers can take it," he said. "It doesn't feel like a fad to me. It definitely feels like a movement."